A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. – Prov. 25:11

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God’s Recipe for Lemonade

We have all heard the quote, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” It is a phrase of encouragement for anyone who is encountering difficulty in life. Lemons taste sour, and so can adversity. A verse of scripture that we can apply to this concept is Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” The evil would be the lemons while the good is the lemonade. So, how do we make lemonade? I want to share with you God’s recipe for His revitalizing spiritual drink while also using a recipe of a common refreshing summertime drink.

Lemonade requires only three ingredients: lemons, sugar and water. The first ingredient I want to consider is the lemon. If life gives me a lemon, I have to do something with it in order to make lemonade. I cannot just put the whole lemon into a glass with some sugar and water. Initially, the lemon must be cut to enable me to access the fruit. I need a knife, so I take the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God according to Ephesians 6:17. God’s Word helps me to cut through all my bitter and difficult experiences. Next I squeeze the lemon to extract the juice. Romans 16:20 says, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” Crushing reminds me of squeezing. God’s peace squeezes out the sourness within my disposition. The lemon juice is now available.

To the juice I add sugar. Sugar adds sweetness to the tartness of the lemon. I find sweetness depicted in scripture as love. Summarizing I Corinthians 13: 4-7, love is described as being patient, kind and not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, nor is it provoked. Love does not take into account a wrong suffered but rather rejoices with the truth. Lovebears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Then Luke 6:35 tells me to love my enemies. The sweetness of sugar and love counteracts the sourness of lemons and hatred caused by my enemies.

Water is the primary ingredient of lemonade. In Revelation 22:17, the water of life is described as a free gift. And in John 7:38, Jesus says, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” Here is the water to be combined with lemon juice and sugar to complete our lemonade.

Lemons suggest sourness or difficulty in life, while lemonade is a sweet drink. Jesus says in John 16:33 NLT, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” This suggests that we can expect to find some lemons during our lives, but we also have the assurance that the Lord will take these sour pieces of fruit and help us make lemonade. According to Philippians 4:13, “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength” – that includes making lemonade! Romans 8:28 confirms, “that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” God will help us make lemonade out of our lemons of life. So, do not become bitter when you encounter a sour experience but remember Romans 8:37 NLT, “Despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” The Lord has a glass of sweet spiritual lemonade for you rather than a sour lemon! “Taste and see that the LORD is good,” Psalm 34:8.